SneakyDan's 1k Sons

So these guys have been a bit of a labour of love, and money (!!!) over the last 4 months. I did say when the GK codex came out that it would allow me to field, competitively, my favourite legion - Magnus the Red's Thousand Sons. I originally was going to convert every single grey knight that I'd bought, and then I stumbled upon some one off resin casts, that rarely come up on ebay - the following is a fusion of those parts, and GK kits, to give you the army that stands before you. I can only take credit for the construction - credit for the painting goes to my good friend Will Girdler, a local guy, and masterful painter.

I apologise in advance for the quality of the images - they were taken with my ancient camera, in my singlebulb lit room. I will get some decent photos taken this weekend, at the tournament, in decent lighting (I hope). This should be enough to whet your appetite anyways.

Grey Knight Grand Masters - Strategy begets victory

So I'm back again.... My Grey Knight codex review is still on the back burner, as I furiously get games in prior to my last three tournaments of the year. I'm trying fairly hard to garner a spot in the Queensland Masters, and only getting lots of games in (and not having my town flooded again -_-) stands in my way.

When discussing GK HQ's, there really seems to be four things people talk about. Three of these modify your FOC and they will be covered again elsewhere. The fourth is the ubiquitous Librarian - that little box of utility gold that any GK army can use to its fullest extent, with wonderful powers such as shrouding and sanctuary, and unit buffs like might of titan and quicksilver (not to mention a psychic hood).

Grey Knights Codex Review - Elites Part 1

Part deuce of my series on the Grey Knight Codex, will focus on some of the tastiest morsels in the GK book - their elites. I won't, however, go into henchmen, as I think they are filthy creatures of halflife who deserve flogging/beating/killing at regular intervals..... Basically I don't like henchmen, regardless of the holes they fill in our lists.

So, on to the juicy bits - the other elites choices. The GK book is actually really well structured, in regards to fluff/effective choices, when it comes to elites/troops - We have Purifiers, the elite PA GK, Paladins, the elite terminator cadre, various assassins, techmarines, venerable (commonly known as indestructible!) dreads, and... those other imperial guard style things. Plenty of variety, but what exactly does each choice bring to the table?

Grey Knight Codex Review - Fast Attack (Zoom Zoom!)

CoolMini

Hello friends, from a far off land I have returned... No, actually, my wife and I have had our second baby, and I haven't had any time to do an article in... forever. So I thought I'd start off with something simple - Codex Grey Knights! Now I am not a long time GK player, I'm mainly utilising them so I can create my counts as Thousand Sons army, with psychic might included. What this means for you, my grey-armored loving compatriot, is that I've literally spent every waking moment poring over batreps, the codex, and many other sources, to try and get a feel for Magic Marines (patent pending).

Lets go a bit crazy, and start with the Fast Attack section.

We're still waiting on VT2 to start his review...looks like SneakyDan is joining in the fun.

Dan rants- Grey Knights, what they are, and what they aren't.

First things first kids - stop with the tears, GK's aren't the end-game for 40k. They all have force weapons, oh noes, world implodes.
Now that I'm past that bugbear, lets have a look at some misconceptions that I thought were obvious in the GK codex.

Lie Number 1: GK's all have power weapons, therefore are all assault troops of AWESOME!

Wrong. GK's do all have power weapons. That doesn't mean all GK's are dedicated assault units. GK's, in general, are NOT an assault army. DCA are about the only thing in the list that functions purely as an assault unit, with DK's a passable second. Paladins, Purifiers, Grey Knights, and the like, are NOT assault units.

Paladins are WS5, with 2 attacks, and 2 wounds, I hear you cry! They also only have a 5+ invo. Dedicated units of CC troops will still tear them to shreds, although wound abuse can do a passable job of keeping you alive. TH/SS terminators make you cry, as they do everyone else, in assaults. (But you are still better than they are, for other reasons. More on this later.)

Okay, what about Purifiers! Surely they are better, you can spam I6 halberds! No, still not an assault unit. They are still -just- marines. Torrenting or power weapons from invulnerable or fast troops still smash them. Sure, you can do some damage and smash units which can't beat Marines in combat but you're not a CC unit.

GKSS and Interceptors are not assault units either. They just aren't.

Thousand Sons Count As Build

Pic from Litanies of Hate

So I've seen a lot of people asking about how to approach Thousand Sons, in regards to a counts as GK list. Firstly, for those that don't know (HEATHENS!)
The Thousand Sons were the legion of Primarch Magnus the Red, the most psychically gifted of all of the Emperors Primarchs. His psychic ability was second only to the Emperor himself, and his Legion inherited his inherent nascent psychic abilities, through his gene seed. This led to the Flesh Change, a flaw in their gene seed (similar to the mark of the wulfen) which would force uncontrolled mutation on the legionnaire. Magnus cured this, through means unknown, which cost him an eye, hence Magnus the Cyclops.

So that's the back story. Basically all 1ksons are psychic to some degree or another. They are broken up into cults, each specialising in some form of warp manipulation. Pyrae specialise in devastation, the Corvidae in foretelling, Pavoni in healing, etc etc. Units in the 1ksons (from the McNeil Heresy novel, anyways) seem to be loose formations of combinations of different cults, which is well represented by the GK codex, if one knows but how.

Pavoni/Pyrae are the best presented, and the easiest. Pavoni are one of the lower ranks, and specialise in healing/augmenting strength. Yay, hammerhand, represented by the fluff. Pyrae specialise in destruction, which I will be representing in my army by GK's with psycannons. The Corvidae are aptly represented by Librarians and Grand Masters, one is a Master Psychic, the other able to foresee the future through grand strategy.

SneakyDan's GK (Thousand Sons!) Build process - Confusion Reigns...

Grey Knight List Build - Mordrak, and Singularity.

Singularity - a hypothetical point in space-time at which matter is infinitely compressed to infinitesimal volume. For us, its the application of force to a single point in your opponent's battle line, to try and smash that line.

Word is fairly heavy, that is to say something like that must have some meaning. I'm using it to create a concept, something that I hope is competitive, while using some of the GK units that others are happy to consign to "Kantorism", or the 9th plain of bad list hell. For us, its the application of force to a single point in your opponents battle line, to try and smash that line.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, that I'm going to roll into a series of posts about GK list building, and what I've been running through in my mind.

My take on the GK codex - balanced. At first blush, its got lots of good, solid options, in multiple slots, akin to the Dark Eldar Codex before it. They are not all great, but all are in at least some shape or form, viable. Today, I'm going to focus on a character that we all thought was going to be the new Loganwing (Knightwing?) staple- Mordrak, the Haunted Knight.

Knights of the Realm - New Paladins

"Bond.... James Bond."
So Paladins, the terminator elite of the GK codex. The very grimmest of the Grim Dark Marines of the Grim Dark future (angry marines not withstanding). 2 Wounds, 55 pts per model, 2+/5++ save, armed with storm bolter, a little psychic might, and a big shiny weapon of close combat orientation.

Not going to lie, I love paladins. More than purifiers, in fact. Paladins to me sound like they belong in the codex, purifiers seem to be shoehorned in, as an alternative to paladins- but considering that the elite of the GK army wear TDA, why do we still have little PA guys? (Oh right, cause tactically, and for the purposes of MSU, they are awesome :D )

Lets look at why Paladins are good.

Relentless - Move and fire cannons. Yes, you can get 5 Fryers (Purifiers, geddit?) with 2 cannons, and put them in a metal box for 100 pts less. But they can still only move 6", and fire 4 shots. The double cannon squad of 5 dudes can move 6", fire 8 shots, 2 of which are master crafted. And then you can assault.

Centurion - SneakyDan's Turn

So I should put up my results as well, and how I think I did. Overall, I came 4th, which is great, but that's not what really matters.(and no, its not that Kirby drinks like a skirt, or that Archnomad is the worst excuse at drinking for a Scotsman I've ever met!)

I came in the top 6 players, of a 31 player Win/Loss tournament. Am I happy with that? Sort of. It boils down to me miffing target selection a bit in my third game, and some shady rules knowledge as well. More explained below.
My list was as follows.
2 x Shas'el, Fireknife, TL MP/HW Tracker, with bodyguard, fireknife, TA/HW tracker
3 x 2 Fireknives, 1 Teamleader in each
6 Firewarriors
2 x 10 Kroot
2 x Single Pirahnas, TA/Fusion
8x Pathfinders, Dumbfish
2 x Railheads, Burst Cannons/Dpod/Multitracker
2x Broadsides, Team Leader
Mostly my own list, props to VT2 for the idea of the 5x2 rather than 3x3 + 1 suit make up. Loved it, think its perfect for Tau.

Game 1 - Daemonhunters (Andrew F. - Gladstone Player)

Andrew (Frosty from this point on) is a top bloke, and self admitted casual player. He plays more for his own enjoyment than to be competitive, and his list selection proves this. However, I want to point out here that he has an absolutely beautiful GK Army, exceptionally painted, and its a joy to face across the table.

His list was GK's only, + an assassin.
GK Hero, 4 Termi retinue
Callidus Assassin (this terrified me, I dont know why)
3 x 8 man GK squads
1 Purgation Squad, double incinerators
Inq Lord with Termi Armour, Mystics, sage, MM Servitor, psycannon
Land Raider Crusader

Email In - Do I REALLY need Pathfinders?

Image by Slipgatecentral from Deviantart

Help, I *hate* Pathfinders Kirby! Say what? lol

I know they’re a mainstay in every single Tau lineup, and I can appreciate their usefulness, honestly, but I can’t stand them. And I’m amazed that almost every single player worth their salt says “take a squad of 8”. Why? As you might have guessed, I’m new to the Tau, but am pretty well seasoned with Tyranids, Orks, and Necrons. But returning to the Pathfinders, my problems with them are:

1. They can’t even attack without an upgrade—and even then, can only have a few choice shooters that are only really effective against troops.

Email In - Doublewing 2000pts

Going to follow Kirby's trend of responses in italics purple, as it seems to be popular

Hi SneakyDan, it appears that you are running the Dark Angels conversation on 3++ so I'm sending you a Doublewing list idea.  It seems to me that Deathwing and Ravenwing were so obviously meant to be combined that it's silly not to.  I mean, one teleports, the other comes with Scouts and teleport homers.  Duh.  The only reason Doublewing wasn't that good till now was the nerfiness of the DWT stormshield and the Cyclone/Typhoon missile launchers in the DA codex.  I'm still not sure that it's the perfect list, but it's much better than it was, and I'm pretty confident that it would work better than pure Deathwing.

It still isn't -that- good, its just not super horribad anymore. Its playable, but nowhere near on par with something like IG or C:Marines. Also, afaik, DA bikers can only scout move, not scout turbo boost, as that didnt get FAQ'd.

Blood Angel Ideas - Because overtiredness makes me think.

I realiseI promised more deployment articles, and I've had some people begging for castling advice, but fact is I'm working on a plant shutdown at the moment, and don't have the mental capacity for articles of that nature. So to fill space instead while pink bits is gone ....

Okay, so chatbawks inspired madness. Been thinking a lot of how to use Stormravens, since I came back from Brisvegas on Tuesday. I really like the model, but its hard to justify them at 1750. Kirbs gonna do a full article, so I'll save my full thoughts for that, but I'm going to focus on one thing in this list.

The Raven is a gunboat first, and a transport second.
No, really, I mean that. Its amazing. 4 Str8 AP1 Missiles on a first turn barrage? Yes please. Oh, they are single shot, well boohoo, thats okay with me. The very realistic chance to not only disable, but destroy, one of your AV13 or lower vehicles first turn, is worth it. Thats not taking into account its other weapons, which are also handy (Plasma Cannon/MM combo, with Hurricane Bolters, is my choice.)

Riddle me this, Clyde-frog - What makes Railheads so goddamned scary? Its the firepower they bring, and the cover save they always have! Frustrating, no? So that gave me an idea.

Back to Basics: Deployment in 5th (Part 1)

Deployment - a subject that could stretch on for forty thousand hours of chatbawks debate, and is different depending which army you play, what build you run, and which particular way you hold your mouth when you set your models up. This article is to explain the basics of army deployment, without specifics to a particular army. So before we go any further, lets look at the deployment phase. This is a key part of how you intend to use your army, and what you do in the deployment phase will dictate what you and your opponent attempt to do throughout the game. A midfield/assault army will deploy as closely as possible to you, and try to herd you into a corner. A mobile army (when played well) will see where you deploy, then move where you are not. There are several different basic methods of deploying, and not all of them are good.

Pitched Battle Line - The Newb Crusher

This is where we all start. You get a starter set, or your mates army, and you deploy parallel to your board edge. AWSUM! MY ARMY IS GO! You may give little or no thought to what actually goes where, but that's how they do it in the White Dwarf batreps right?

Email In - Space Wolves 1500pts

HQ:
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest (Terminator Armor, JotWW, Living Lightning, Chooser of the Slain)

Troops:
Wolf Guard Pack x5 (1 Terminator Armor with Cyclone Missle Launcher)
Wolf Guard Pack x5 (1 Terminator Armor with Cyclone Missle Launcher)
Wolf Guard Pack x5 (1 Terminator Armor with Cyclone Missle Launcher)
Wolf Guard Pack x5 (1 Terminator Armor with Cyclone Missle Launcher)
Wolf Guard Pack x5 (1 Terminator Armor with Cyclone Missle Launcher)

Heavy Support:
Long Fangs x6 (5x Missle Launcher)
Long Fangs x6 (5x Missle Launcher)
Long Fangs x6 (5x Missle Launcher)

Essentially the point is to overwhelm early with lots of missle shots.  If set up correctly (and with a bad set up from the opponent) you can put 25 ML shots first turn - whether Krak or Frag it is going to do a lot of damage.

But you guys are the experts.  Wanted to run it by you since a lot of other sites have people who respond with things that make no comprehensible sense.

Dark Angels Email in: Deathwing

"Figured it'd be easier to mail you guys the list, than wait for you to be online to chat.  With the new FAQs updating the rules for Stormshields, Cyclone Launchers and Power of the Machine Spirit, how would you rate this army list?
130  Belial

240  Deathwing Squad
       4x Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield
       1x Cyclone Launcher, Chainfist, Stormbolter

240  Deathwing Squad
       1x Power Sword, Stormbolter
       1x Chainfist, Stormbolter
       1x Cyclone Launcher, Powerfist, Stormbolter
       1x Powerfist, Stormbolter
       1x Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Dark Angels Errata: Deathwing REBORN!

Okay, so I'm a little excited. I'm sure pink bits will jump in the next day or so and do a proper write up, but I'm gonna talk about what makes me happy in the pants.

VIABLE DEATHWING TERMINATOR ARMIES.

THIS is what im talking about. Black Templar and Deathwing lovers rejoice.

Deathwing are pretty much my favourite army in the entirety of the 40k fluff universe. A secretive organisation that hunts their own "Fallen" chapter brethren, the whole premise of the Deathwing is circles upon circles of mystery and intrigue. That shit, is awesome.

This FAQ firmly brings Deathwing into the 5th ed tourney scene. Whys that? They fixed the two glaring issues with the DA codex regarding to Deathwing - Stormshields and Cyclone Missile launchers. You heard me.

Stormshields are now a 3++. It's the new black Yeah, thats awesome. CML's are now the same as every other codex, meaning that DW squads now have RELIABLE suppression to open up vehicles with. And the best part? YOU CAN COMBINE THE TWO IN THE SAME GODDAMNED SQUAD.

This is a good thing. In case you hadn't noticed.

Back to Basics - Writing your list.

Note: this is not about building win/loss tourney lists. This is for people starting out. Remember this as you read this article.

So you've starting to play Warhammer 40K. Great! A rich universe, filled with space skeletons, space marines, space elves, space daemons.... you get the drift. Next are the shiny models, and the armies they belong to, and the painting, and modelling, that goes with them. Even more fun. You know what isn't fun? Writing your army list, only to have your face smushed into the dirt over and over and over again.

Yeah, it happens to just about everyone who joins this hobby. It happened to me for oh, I don't know, 10 years when I first started playing as a youngster ( I think the rad kids call them "noobs" now, goddamned beatnik goodfernothins *grumble*). I had far too much allowance as a kid of 11, and that meant I played a LOT of armies. Like, all of them. Yes, every single goddamned one, and for both Fantasy and 40K. And I was freaking TERRIBLE. Like could not win a game. Even with childish cheating.

Seriously, I was am that bad.

So you're going to play in a comp tournament.....

Yes, we all do it. Especially here in Oz. There is a prevalence of comp-style tourneys, be it peer, TO, panel, and the like. I know, we here at Pinksville 3++ (patent pending) don't advocate comp in any format, but unfortunately for everyone who isn't VT2, we like playing tourneys.Today I'm going to take you on a little journey that I call bullshitville, better known as how to play comp rather than letting it play you.

Tau List Critique with wonky comp restrictions!

Hi Kirby

First of I would like to say that i really enjoy reading yours and the others writers posts on 3++, and some of the articles have really change my view on the game, and especially, on how to play Tau. That being said I have an upcoming  2000 points tournament  and was wondering if you would take a look on my list. Now when I said a "different" tournament, it is because in Denmark, where I am from, we usually have some restrictions to how you can build you army, mainly to prevent spamming 3 of the same unit.

The restrictions are as follows.

- No double or triple choices outside of Troops.
- Max 3 identical Troops choices.
- Max 4 vehicles which have Transport capacity.
- You have the following Force Organisation Chart to make your army from:
1 HQ, 0-2 Elites, 2-6 Troops, 0-2 Fast Attack, 0-2 HeavySupport.


Now these restriction can be broken in the following ways, costing 1 point each, and Tau have a total of 4 points to use.


- 1 extra choice in HQ, 1 extra choice in Elites, 1 extra choice in Fast attack, 1 extra choice in Heavy support( 1 point for each extra choice)

- 1 double choice.
So here is my list, I've noticed that it is a bit like your hybrid tau list, with some more mobility and the cost of high strength firepower(S 10)

HQ
Shas'el w/Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker
Bodyguard x 2 w/Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker
Ethereal w/2 x shield drones
Crisis x 3 w/Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Multi-tracker
Crisis x 3 w/TW flamer, Missile Pod

Troop
FW x 6
Devilfish w/SMS, Multi-tracker, Disruption Pods, Targeting Array
Kroot x 12
Kroot x 10
hound x 6